Code Kingdoms Dashboard Guide

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1 codekingdoms Code Kingdoms Dashboard Guide for kids, with kids, by kids.

2 About this guide This guide is for teachers and volunteers and explains how to use the dashboard to manage groups of kids as they work through Code Kingdoms puzzles. What is Code Kingdoms? Code Kingdoms teaches programming and computational thinking in a way that's fun for kids. They build and protect their lands with puzzles coded in real JavaScript. How does it work? Play to learn Computational Thinking As kids explore new lands they will learn programming concepts from the ground up. As they code, solve and build puzzles, they ll develop new coding and problem-solving skills that allow them to progress in the game. Build your own kingdom Get creative. Programming is fun and allows kids to design your own puzzles with real JavaScript code. As they progress they ll advance from drag and drop to real text-based code and grow a mightier kingdom. 1

3 Share & challenge your friends Kids can collaborate to design their kingdom and show off their creations. Some of their best puzzle ideas come from working with others and problem-solving together. What is the dashboard? We have designed the Code Kingdoms Dashboard to make managing users, setting classroom activities and assessing progress easier for group leaders. It can be used by teachers, Code Club volunteers or anyone leading a group in an educational setting. What are the benefits? Code Kingdoms was built in consultation with many teachers and students throughout the UK. The dashboard was built in response to feedback from group leaders during our beta-testing period. The key benefits of using the dashboard are the ability to: Manage user accounts and reset student passwords Create groups for all your cohorts Plan your Code Kingdoms activities and push them to your groups at the click of a button Manage the classroom with tools including lock all user screens Track progress of activities during a lesson Assess progress against National Curriculum criteria 2

4 How do I get started? Registration CK School, which incorporates the dashboard and browser-based version of the game, is free for use by schools, Code Clubs and other established extracurricular courses. Registration is completed in a few easy steps at dashboard.codekingdoms.com - the process is slightly different depending on which institution you are connected with, please see below. 1. Teachers / Schools a. When you select register please ensure you use your school address. These addresses usually contain the school s name in the domain and allows us to easily verify that Code Kingdoms is being used by an educational institution. This means you can use CK School. 2. Code Club volunteers a. Please register with your preferred address. When asked How did you hear about us? Please enter Code Club volunteer 3. Other group leaders a. Please register for an account and drop us an explaining the context of your course / institution and we will verify your use of the Code Kingdoms browser version team@codekingdoms.com 3

5 Creating a group 1. Once you have registered and logged in, the first thing you will need to do is to create a group. You can create as many groups as you like, we tend to create one per class / Code Club. 2. When asked for a group name this must be unique so that your group members can search for and join the correct group. You might want to use the format YourSurname/ClassName/AcademicYear E.g. Johnson/6Y/2015 5

6 Adding members to your group 1. This can be done in two ways. You can either add each member individually using their username or members can add themselves once you have shared the group name. 2. To add members yourself, enter the group, click Add student and type their username (the one they registered with). They will appear in the group list once they have been successfully added. 3. If you have a large group, you can save time by allowing members to add themselves to your group. The steps they need to take are listed below: a. Visit school.codekingdoms.com b. Choose a character, their age, gender and a username c. On the add a group page they need to enter the group s unique name e.g. Johnson/6Y/2015 d. Once successfully added each member will appear in the group 6

7 Managing members 1. Additional information - You may want to identify your members by more than their username alone, so the additional information column can be used to add information that allows you to recognise them. 2. Reset a password - to reset a member s password click on the key icon next to their username in the groups view. 3. Removing users - you can remove users by clicking on the red icon next to their username. They can be re-added later if you wish. 7

8 Setting lessons 1. This feature can be used prior to a session to plan the puzzles your members will complete during the session. 2. The puzzles you want to include can be selected by clicking on the puzzle cards. Once selected they will highlight green. 3. When you are happy with the puzzles selected, clicking Start will push the puzzles to your group members. They will be completed in the order they appear on the Select Puzzles screen. 8

9 Monitoring progress You can view live lesson progress once you have started the lesson. As members complete puzzles the dots next to their names will turn green. 9

10 Locking screens The Lock button can be used to get the attention of your group members and prevent them being distracted by continuing to play Code Kingdoms. Clicking Unlock will enable them to pick up where they left off. 10

11 Frequently Asked Questions What are the codes on the puzzle cards for? They denote the skills and concepts that are developed when that puzzle is completed. If you hover your mouse over the code it will give the description of skill or concept developed. One of my group members is not receiving the puzzles I m setting, why? It is likely they are not in the correct group, try asking them to add the group name again. 11

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